ASX 200 dropped 129 points to 5879 (2.2%) on a rout on Nasdaq and broader US markets. Dow futures up 100 points. Across the board losses with banks, miners and energy stocks leading the falls. The Big Bank Basket fell to $119.11 and the miners dropped as BHP fell 1.7% and FMG down 2.7% on profit taking. Gold miners held up relatively well with NCM down 0.8% and EVN down 0.2%. Energy stocks ran out of juice as STO fell 5.4% and WPL dropped 4.4%. No signs of buyers at lower levels either. Tech stocks were also whacked hard with the BNPL down as APT fell 1.3% and SZL down 7.5% and Z1P off 2.1%. XRO fell 2.1% too and the All Tech Index dropped 2.4%. Healthcare in some trouble after CSL was hit 2.5% on disappointment on vaccine trial. Little news on the corporate front, PFT up 6.7% after its acquisition of Daily Potato business. ANN flat, upgraded to BUY at Citi. LLC up 0.6%, completes its engineering sale. QUB losing 2.6% extended its Patrick Port of Melbourne lease to 2066. BXB losing 4.0% trading ex-dividend. PBH down 13.3% after completing its institutional offer. Inflation data from China in line with estimates at 2.4% in August. WBC consumer confidence jumped 18% to 93.8 in September, well above forecasts. 10-year yields fell to 0.89% and the AUD steady at the lower levels. In Asia, Japan down 1.2% and China down 1.8% whilst HK down 1.0% too.

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 down 129 to 5879.
  • High 5980 Low 5849. Good volume.
  • Big Bank Basket drops to $119.11
  • All Tech Index down 2.41%
  • 37 trading days until the US election.
  • Dow Futures down 39 Nasdaq futures up 69.
  • Gold flat at AUD$2646
  • 10-year bond yield down to 0.89%
  • AUD steady at 72.30c after overnight falls.
  • Bitcoin slips to $10010
  • In Asia, Japan down 1.2% and China down 1.8% whilst HK down 1.0% too.

MARCUS TODAY TEAM INSIGHTS

MARCUS STRATEGY – Is this a cash up moment? Is this a major market pivot point? We answer those questions today in the Strategy section. We also look at whether we should set up an ETF SMA (Separately Managed Account) and question whether it will be possible to get the liquidity we’ll need to make major market calls. Finally, we defy logic and note a number of large ASX stocks showing buy signals whilst the market falls over. READ MORE

HENRYS TAKE – Was Masayoshi Son responsible for the Tesla rout too? Maybe he was shrewd after all. As volatility picks up where do we look for safety? As the ASX Small Cap conference heads into its second day find out which three impressed although not enough to buy just yet… READ MORE

STOCKS

  • BRN +2.74% 4DS +46.00% and WBT unchanged chip stocks see rerating.
  • PBH -13.29% ex rights PBHRA rights start trade.
  • CRN +1.47% stirring.
  • OPC +1.42% corporate battle heats up.
  • VMT +5.56% GM deal shows scope for deals.
  • CLQ -10.53% commodity potential to be assessed at PSP.
  • OSH -7.79% STO -5.42% ORG – 5.49% oil price falls.
  • GNC -8.86% becoming a substantial holder.
  • SZL -7.47% APT -1.32% OPY -3.03% BNPL sector falls.
  • NUF +2.66% AAC +0.96% and ING +1.23% Agri stocks doing well.
  • NVX -6.53% The Tesla fall rubbing off. Presentation fails to halt sell off.
  • CAN +8.54% cannabis stocks starting to find fans again. A sector to watch.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Do you want chips with that? 4DS +46.00%. Huge volume and ASX query. Follows in BRN wake. BRN high of 97c low of 62c and all stops in between.
  • Biggest Winners: SIG, CMM, BRN, NUF, GXY and GUD.
  • Biggest Losers: PBH, BPT, GNC, OSH, CCP, SZL, NVX and PSI.

TODAY

  • Gold Road Resources (GOR) +0.66% First half consolidated NPAT $23.4m vs year-ago -$16.9m reflecting the Gruyere Project being in operation for the full six months having attained commercial production on 1 October 2019. Gold sales revenue of $135.1m was generated from the sale of 60,400oz at an average gold price of $2,237 per ounce. EBITDA $61.0m vs year-ago -$23m.
  • IGO Limited (IGO) -2.66% Chairman Peter Bilbe to retire on or before the AGM scheduled for November.
  • Qube Holdings (QUB) -2.58% Patrick Terminals has entered into a lease agreement to extend its tenure at the Port of Melbourne to 2066. Qube holds a 50% interest in Patrick Terminals.
  • Cromwell Property Group (CMW) -0.58% Appoints John Humphrey as an independent non-executive director.
  • Lendlease (LLC) +0.63% Completes the sale of its Engineering business to Acciona Infrastructure Asia Pacific. CEO comments, “the sale represents a positive outcome…Lendlease’s recent strategy update highlights the importance of focusing our resources in areas where our competitive edge is strongest. The sale of our engineering business is consistent with this strategy.”

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • WBC consumer confidence jumped 18% to 93.8 in September, well above forecasts. Reversing the 9.5% fall in August. Economist Bill Evans had this to say, “as we have seen in today’s survey, consumer confidence is returning to more normal levels, although the sensitivity to progress in managing the virus and the opening up of economies remains key to the outlook.” The rebound means the Index is now just 1.6% below the average over the six months prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in March.

COVID – 19 NEWS

  • Cases surpass 27.4m; deaths exceed 896,000
  • AstraZeneca Plc stopped giving shots of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after a person participating in one of the company’s studies got sick
  • South Korea added 156 more coronavirus cases in 24 hours versus 136 a day earlier.

BONDS

ASIAN NEWS

  • Softbank shares continue to fall on derivatives bets. Not the trade but the deviation from its MO is more worrying.
  • Not just in Australia or the US are we seeing the Robinhood effect but in Malaysia it is happening too.


EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

  • AstraZeneca pauses vaccine trial due to safety concerns.
  • UK new Brexit Bill may break International Law in a ‘limited way’.
  • ‘Official driving’ season in the US is over. Official driving season? Only in US.
  • Berkshire Hathaway to invest US$570m in Snowflake, a cloud computing database group.
  • South African GDP fell 16.4% in three months to June.
  • Xmas promotions in US may start around Halloween.
  • Slack cuts staff as WFH boost fails to materialise.
  • 6 US stocks have lost US$1 trillion in the last three days. Crazy times.

And finally….

The new Bon Jovi sat nav I bought is rubbish.
It only gets you half way there!!!

What is ET short for?

He only has little legs!

Clarence

XXX